Meditation

Do you meditate?  No?  Are you sure?  Okay, let's view this from another angle...

Do you come home from a hard day at work and veg out in front of the television, perfectly aware that you're not taking a single thing in; just using the focal point of the television as a way of stilling your thoughts a little?  Or perhaps you put on some music and just shut your eyes and let it wash over you until you're feeling a bit calmer, or even sing along until you've quite forgotten your worries.  Or you may go out for a walk, clean the car, read a book... perhaps you simply find from time to time that your mind wanders off into a daydream while you're meant to be working.  The list is endless.

But all these activities have one thing in common.  They are being done as a means of settling the mind down and stilling your thoughts.  Much the same result as conscious meditation practise.  All of a sudden, meditation doesn't seem quite the unattainable task you thought it was, doesn't it?

So ask yourself again... Do you meditate?

The answer is invariably "yes"; we all mediate in our own way, be it consciously or otherwise.  So why is conscious meditation deemed so important in the life of a Pagan?

To find the answer to this, perhaps you could begin by taking a look for a moment at modern day living.  Then compare this to the beliefs of a Pagan.  Where in the modern concrete office block are the cycles of life, the beauty of nature, the love of God/dess, the poetry of the soul?  Now ask yourself, where are you, and perhaps you can tally up the answers.

By going deeper within yourself, and thus outwards to your higher self, it is possible to maintain that connection no matter where you are.  No matter how stressful the day, trust me... deep within you will find that the infinite well of peace that is your soul is still there.  And so, for even the most stressed out, urban dwelling Pagan, there is a connection to the cycles and energies of nature.

Then we take into consideration that so many Pagans are also practitioners of magic in one form or another.  Just as you wouldn't use a blunt axe to chop wood, so it surely follows that you wouldn't use a dulled mind to work magic.

By incorporating meditation effectively into your daily life, so you come to train the mind to be still.  And when the conscious mind is still, so the forum is left clear for the sub-conscious to work... and this, as any practitioner of magic will tell you, is where the real work is done.

You now know already of some unconscious meditation you instinctively do on a daily basis.  If that's what you can do without even trying or thinking about it, imagine the all round benefits of consciously using meditation.  But how does one go about the task of consciously using meditation?

So many people seem to feel the need to dress meditation up in a variety of packages to make it seem harder than it is.  Sadly, more often than not, this is purely to make money.  And so, I shall endeavour to save you a few pounds here, and give you some pointers to effective meditation, together with various simple techniques you may wish to incorporate.

Stilling the mind sounds so easy, doesn't it?  So perhaps you should give this a try... go on; just sit for a few moments with your eyes closed and don't think a single thing...

How did you get on?  Chances are, a thousand and one thoughts spun through your mind as you tried!  So let me reassure you...  When you first begin to consciously meditate, is often something akin to when you take a week's holiday from work and find yourself running around like a headless chicken trying to catch up with everything, and/or coming down with a cold.  It's the first opportunity (outside of sleep) you've given your poor mind to catch up with itself, so it tends to race ahead and try to achieve as much of this as it possibly can!

At this point, a lot of people like to use a mantra as a way of blocking out these thoughts.  Me?  I personally would suggest you save that technique for an emergency, and instead allow the mind to work all these thoughts out of it's system.  It may make for frustrating meditation to begin with, but ultimately it will leave your mind much less cluttered both in and out of a meditative state, and so you will begin to feel calmer in general.

Notice how I refer to the mind, though; as a separate entity.  We are all familiar with the phrase of "mind, body and soul", and it is helpful to view yourself as this triple entity in one, just as the triple Goddess is viewed as three in one.  So, allowing your body to be still (and comfortable; you will learn in time which position you meditate best in), try to turn your attention to your soul while your mind is busy chattering away.  There is no need for you to get involved in these thoughts; simply relax, and be, and let the mind work things out for itself.  The peace of your soul, and the stillness of your body, will assist your mind in coming to a rest also.

While you are learning this process, and allowing your mind to work through it's various issues, don't be surprised if you find your dreams becoming more vivid, and the odd memory you had surpressed rising back up to the surface.  This can sometimes be a painful process, but is also a natural part of the undertaking, and will ultimately lead to a greater inner peace.

As you progress, you will instinctively come to know which way of meditation works best for you.  Some prefer silence, some like to have soft music playing, some like to focus on a candle flame, while others still are happy to meditate whenever and wherever; no matter how noisy it may be!  If you do prefer peace, and this is impossible to achieve naturally in your environment, a pack of foam earplugs from the chemist work wonders!  You may wish to burn incense whilst meditating, although I would advise only using rolled, or you will be forever worrying about topping it up.  Some like to keep their eyes open and focus on an object, while others prefer to keep their eyes closed.  Many people like to sit in the energy field of a tree, or even with their back resting against the tree, to make use of it's energy in their meditation.  See my piece on working with trees for more information of this.

Remember, of course, to apply some common sense to your meditation... Achieving an altered state of consciousness while driving is damned silly, and you don't need me to tell you so!  Equally, if you have candles or incense burning, be aware of any fire hazards.  Taking the 'phone off the hook, hanging a sign on your bedroom door (or wherever you're meditating), ensuring the children aren't about to start screaming, and so on, are all factors to take into account before you begin.

When coming out of your meditative state, allow plenty of time to adjust back to the conscious world; there is nothing more destructive to meditation than having to leap back into the thick of things as soon as you've finished.  So, if necessary, stop your meditation five minutes before you want to, to allow that time to "come down".  Once more, apply common sense to what you do next; cutting up vegetables for dinner with a sharp knife whilst only semi returned from meditation is not generally a wise idea!

People often ask how long they should meditate for and/or how they are meant to fit it into their day.  Well, here the choice is generally up to you.  For the length, I would suggest you start at somewhere around five minutes, and build it up five minutes at a time as you begin to feel more comfortable with it, until you reach anywhere up to half an hour.  Most people find it an enormous help to meditate for twenty minutes or so each morning, and again each evening, as a way of maintaining that stillness throughout the day.  Others with slightly busier lives find twenty minutes or so at lunchtime works better for them.  However, we do lead very busy lives these days, and so I will give you the advice the wonderful man who taught me Alexander Technique once gave me...

"Try, if you can, to fit in at least twenty minutes each day.  If you can't find twenty minutes to spare, do fifteen.  If you can't find fifteen, do ten.  If you can't find ten, do five.  If you really can't find five, in the twenty four hours of the day, then it's time to take a radical look at your life."